russell



united sulla R. J. RUSSELL, OF WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA.

Leners Patent No. 90,587, daad May 25, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT IN SKATES.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the lame.

To all whom it 'may conce/rn Be it known that I, It. J. RUSSELL, of Wheeling, in the county of Ohio, in the State of WestVirginia, have invented a new and improved Mode of Making and Adjusting Skates; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and lignres of reference marked thereon.

rlhe nature of my invention consistsin making a steel skate, or a skate of other suitable metal, to be adjusted Without straps, the to'e being fastened by'a spring, and the heel by a plate on the heel, dovetailed into a T on the runner.

Toenable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its const-ruction and operation.

I construct my runner of steel, or any other suit Yable metal, and punch, shear, or forge it into the shape of the blank represented at Figure 3 of the accompanying drawings.

The T, A, is constructed with a dovetail on the upper surface, so as to t tightly over the ends of the heel-plate, represented at Figure 1. A j

Y The shank of the T, A, is heated, and the T twisted one-quarter around, so as to form a right Vangle with the runner, as represented at A in Figure 4.

The upper and front part of the runner is` used as a support for the foot, and is made with such a taper as to touch as much of the sole of the boot as desirable, from the toe to behind the ball of the foot, and there is as much punched out as is necessary to lighten the front part of the skate, the material being-left in or punched out, as the manufacturer may desire, and is punched from in front, behind or above the support, and may be punched out, leaving the steel solid all around. v i

When the`steel is punched out from above the support, as represented in the accompanying drawings, the pointG may or may not project above the line of thev support, so as to enter a short distance into the sole of the boot, and may be filed with a nick in the top or not, as desirable, and the upper part of the rest may begrooveddike the bottom of a skate-runner, so as to prevent the boot from slipping from side to side. The point at D, in figs. 3 and 4, is made by cutting the steel away from above the point, and has the advantage of not catching in the ice,'only when desirable, and answers the purposes of fancy skaters much better than the point on the rink-skate. j

Figure2 is a spring, sheared, forged,or punched out of sheet-steel, or other suitable material, and is bentA around, and riveted, bolted, welded, or fastened in any other substantial way to the upper and front part ofthe runner, asv seen at C in iig. 4, or the said spring B C B may be fastened to any other suitable part of the skate runner. And the spring is so formed that the clamps' .B B may be spread apart, so as to lap over the outsideof the sole of the boot.

' The spring is made suiiiciently strong to tighten the strength to support the foot, and spring to hold the skate on.

Fig. l is a small plate, which is fastened to the heel of the boot, with small wood-screws, and is made with a bevelled notch in one end, at H, so as toadmit one end of the T, A, and the other end of plate, at I, is made so as to form a part of the arc of a circle, with the centreat the notch H, and is bevelled, so as to t in the dovetailed notch in the T, at A, fig. 4.

' In adjusting my skate, I place one end of the T, A, in the notch H, and draw the toe of the skate around, so as to slip the other end of the T, A, over the rounded and bevelled end of the heel-plate I. VI then spread the springs apart, so as to admit the sole ofthe boot between the clamps B B, and the force of the spring .tightens the clamps on the sole of the boot, and holds -the skate ou very rmly.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-L- j i Y The combination of the spring B O B,.therrest E'F, the point G, the point on the toe D, the T on the heel of the skate-runner, at A,-all in g. 4, and the heelplate IH, inig. l, substantially as described and set forth. y

R. J. RUSSELL.

Witnesses:

E. G. CBACRAFT, GEO. K. McMEeHrN. 

